With the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) set to become the BJP government’s first major ideological legislation in West Bengal, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday signalled that his next political-legal battles could centre on religious conversion and restrictions on land transactions across communities.
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But his remarks immediately invite comparison with other BJP-ruled states bordering Bangladesh, where the government has introduced restrictions on certain land transactions in protected communities and areas. “We will bring the UCC very soon; one country, one law. The land question also connects the state government’s agenda with a larger BJP narrative on demography, illegal migration and control over land in border districts. The chief minister also linked the government’s welfare and electoral concerns to the contentious issue of Bangladeshi Hindu refugees.
The BJP government, he said, had earmarked Rs 1,610 crore for the region, including Rs 10 crore for salaries and the rest for development.
Addressing a review meeting of the Paschimanchal Unnayan Parshad in Bankura, Adhikari said his government would soon bring in a stringent law against forced religious conversion and introduce “legal restrictions” governing the sale and purchase of land. After that, our next steps will be to bring a stringent law to prevent forced conversion and new legal restrictions on land purchase and sale,” he said.
